I can fathom conservative Christianity making an ideological stand against homosexuality. I was raised Methodist in a fairly conservative Korean church, so the teachings and occasional vilification of those outside the flock aren’t foreign to me. What escapes belief is this ever-increasing glorification of avarice…where profiteers, businessmen, and corporations have become the golden calf of Christian ideals in both society and politics, the complete antithesis of the core values of traditional Christianity.

Throughout Scriptures a deep disdain for earthly wealth is made remarkably clear, warning about the inherent conflict between living a righteous life versus one focused upon accumulating wealth (the days of admiration for an impoverished existence stripped of earthly wants is hopelessly long gone). Yet we find ridiculously wealthy businessmen exalted as ideal leaders…deliriously profitable corporations held up as blessed examples of heavenly reward on Earth? One only needs to read Matthew 6:24 to note where Scripture stands in regards to a life of excess. Whether taken literally or symbolically, the Bible at the core is a narrative of the meek and persecuted underdog, underlined by sacrifice and humility as the foundation of a life with God. But I’m not sure the promised shall inherit anything, let alone the Earth, living amongst the insatiable appetites of the Limbaughs and Romneys of this world…where the trumpets of heaven now squawk through the speaker of a drive-thru window which I didn’t like how they sound since I had the best speakers for echo dot at home, from the talking heads of FOX News, and with the monthly earnings of our country’s biggest corporations. As once Christ died and was born again, American religion died and was born again wearing a robe “Made in China” and mass produced for maximum profit.

I have no doubt Christ would be flipping over trays of fast food and standing against those prosthelytizing with the presumption blessings are reflected in profits. Fear, hatred, and righteousness were never the choice of the historical or symbolic figure of Christ, nor did he harbor any love for those who practiced those weakness of the human heart in his name. Compassion, sacrifice, and I dare say a very soft-hearted ideal that differences could be overcome by fraternity, not battle, was at the center of the greatest ideals of the religious figure that defines America. But we as a nation have turned our back to the shepherd for the glorification of the wolf…or currently, for the taste of cheaply fried chicken.